Encoding with CQ mode

[DVWannaB]

Gang,

Help me put please. With all this talk about CQ vs x-pass VBR, I wanted to find out more about it.

I tried in TMPG and LSX using CQ mode to encode to DVD. The results were less than stunning.......actually not very good. 2 pass VBR seems to be superior, but I want to know for sure.

Can someone pass on some CQ settings that I could try for myself? I just think I am not using the right mix of bitrate and CQ level setting. Thanks.

[incognito]

I typicly use 1950 max, 0 min cq_vbr with a q of 77
480x480, 192Kbps audio, NTSCfilm

That allows about fifty-something minutes of MPEG 2 on an 80 min
cd (about 1 sopranos episode).

Results are very watchable, but not what you'd call
dvd-quality.

[VidGuy]

CQ (IMO) is much better than CQ_VBR. These are NOT the same.

You want to use CQ, with a max of 2450 min of 0 and a CQ value of anywhere between 65 and 90 - higher numbers are "better".

This setting is a "constant Quality" setting where it uses as many bits as it needs to (within the constraints of a 2450 max) to maintain the quality setting you asked for (which is roughly how little information it's allowed to throw away).

I find that a CQ of 85 is very faithful to the original.

[DVWannaB]

Thanks Incognito, for SVCD setting. That makes sense. I do a lot of soccer games with about 50 minutes each half, so that setting is very applicable.

Anyone has VCD or DVD CQ settings they would like to share? Thanks.

[DVWannaB]

Vidguy. Thanks. One question. I have seen posted by I believe Adam, that a CQ getting close to 100 is the same as 1-pass VBR. So is a CQ of 85 far away enough to be not 1-pass VBR?

[banjazzer]

My SVCD CQ settings are min=755, max=2496, with enable padding ticked. For quality setting I choose 75-85. IMO you will find it hard to detect any difference in quality if you go much beyond 85. Motion search precision either high or highest. I have never been disappointed with any encodes made using these settings. 8)

[DVWannaB]

banjazzer, much appreciated. I think I am getting a feel for the CQ mode setting now.

SVCD:
CQ= 75-85
Max= 2450
Min= ~300-750

What about DVD? Would the Max-Min be something like 6000-2000 for a 2 hour movie?

[tenders]

My SVCD CQ settings are min=755, max=2496, with enable padding ticked. For quality setting I choose 75-85. IMO you will find it hard to detect any difference in quality if you go much beyond 85. Motion search precision either high or highest. I have never been disappointed with any encodes made using these settings. 8)

following this method, how many minutes can you put on a 80min cdr?

[banjazzer]

following this method, how many minutes can you put on a 80min cdr?

Why not try it to find out? I would expect 50-60 mins for an 80 min CDR, depending on whether it's letterbox, and of course, the compressibility of the movie.

A good source of information for all this is http://www.svcd.cc/

DVWannaB - I have no experience of the settings required for DVD, I'm afraid.

[VidGuy]

A CQ setting of 85 still uses VBR effectively - if you understand the "Q"
scale, CQ of 85 relates to a Q value of around 4.

A recent video that I used CQ 85 for on an SVCD gave me an average bandwidth of 1650, with a max of 2450, so it's still far away from a CBR 2450.....

[dilbert]

Goto http://www.kvcd.net/

This site have some wery good templates for CQ-encoding.

dilbert